Destiny Wiki Guide

Dust Palace

Dust Palace is a Strike Mission that takes place on Mars's Meridian Bay. It is a Playstation exclusive until at least Fall 2015. You can enter the Strike mission with up to 3 total Fireteam Members and the mission contains primarily Cabalenemies but Vex are also to be found. This mission is initially intended for players around level 18, but, after unlocking the Strike Mission Playlist, this mission can scale to levels 20, 22, and 24.

Players begin in the Hollows, part of the ruined city on Mars. From the start, players shall be directed to enter a building with a dome-shaped entrance. Inside, players will find a Centurion, backed up by a small contingent of Psions and likely a couple Legionaries. These enemies should prove little trouble.

Once this batch of enemies has been eliminated, players will push forward into a couple office rooms, making their way down a broken elevator shaft, and down the stairs, into the Dust Palace. From here, players will be instructed to deploy their Ghost at a door, taking on their first objective.

Upon deploying their Ghost, players will be ambushed by the Cabal. Unlike most other defense sequences, players will not have to defend against several waves of increasingly difficult enemies, although reinforcements will arrive after the first group has been defeated.

For the first group, players will encounter a couple Legionaries and Phalanges on the left side of the room (when facing towards the center), and the right side will usher in a Centurion backed up by more Legionaries. These enemies will be standard fair, and the Centurion is best tackled by first taking out his shields with a Solar weapon, then finishing him off with Primary weapon shots to the head.

The second batch of enemies that show up in the room are comprised completely of Psions. Most of these will be the standard Psions, but at least one will be a Psion major. Other than the major, Psions are weak, and most will fall with only a few hits. Once these enemies are eliminated, the door will open for players, and they will be told to continue on further into the Dust Palace.

Once past this door, players will enter a multi-tiered room with large, expansive windows. Here, players will encounter more Cabal: a Colossus standing at the top of the stairs in the center, backed up by a Centurion. Defeating these two enemies will allow players to head up the stairs, where upon they will encounter a group of Legionaries and Phalanges fending off a group of Vex Goblins and Hobgoblins.

After clearing out these foes, players will once again be prompted to deploy their Ghost at a door at the far end of the room. Players will be tasked with fending off enemies again while the door is opened, and, like the previous door, there are no official waves of enemies to consider, but there are essentially two.

The first "wave" begins with the spawning of Cabal on the top level with players. These enemies include a few Psions, a couple Legionaries, and at least one Centurion. But enemies will also spawn on the bottom floor, where players entered the room. The enemies there will again include Cabal forces - Legionaries and a Centurion - but there will also be a group of Vex who enter, comprised of a Minotaur and some Hobgoblins.

The second "wave" of enemies are mostly, if not wholly, consisting of Psions. a batch will spawn upstairs by the door, but there are others to be found on the bottom floor. The bottom floor will, in addition to regular Psions, have a Psion major.

Once all enemies have been eliminated, players may proceed through the now-open doorway.

Once through the door, players will be leaving the Dust Palace and entering the Overwatch. After entering the Overwatch, players will turn to their right and stumble upon a bastion of new enemies. On the right side of the room will be a group of five or six Vex Goblins. On the left and back areas of the room, players will find Cabal, mostly Legionaries, but with one Centurion thrown in.

In the next room, likely populated by a couple stragglers from the last, players can turn to their right where a third door opening. Deploy the Ghost once again, and get ready hold the area from another two unofficial waves of enemies.

The first "wave" will see Vex spawn in first, lead by a Minotaur, but backed up by a large group of Harpies. Shortly after the Vex arrive, however, the Cabal will join in, with a Colossus appearing on the far side of the room from the door and a very large group of Phalanges coming with him and from the last room players were in. It is best to take out the Phalanges who try to flank players first, then focus the Colossus, who may be distracted fighting Vex.

Once this wave is complete, players will engage another "wave" of just Psions. They don't appear in great number, but players should stay mindful of the major Psion(s) that appears.

When the last Psion has been slayed, players will now have only a few open doorways standing between them and the boss room.

Upon entering the boss room, the Cortex, players will be immediately engaged by another group of Cabal, consisting of Legionaries and two or three Centurions. Since players have made it this far, these enemies shouldn't be too difficult, allowing players to deploy their Ghost at the Cortex console. This will spawn The Flayers.

The Flayers - Unlike all other Strike Missions, the Dust Palace ends in a boss battle against three enemies. The Flayers are all unique Psions and require heavy coordination. Also unlike any other Strike boss, Flayers have shields. These shields are not only quick to recharge, but they are also only weak to one type of attack, and each Flayer has a different type of shield. As such, players need to coordinate as to whom is bringing what type of weapon, whether Solar, Arc, or Void.

The Flayers will spawn near the open-air-portion of the Cortex, next to a landing pad. From here, they will constantly be backed-up by frequent drop-offs of Cabal reinforcements, whether Legionary, Phalanx, Psion, or Centurion. During this fight, players will have to pay particular attention to the arrival of these reinforcements, not only because they themselves do damage, but because the dropships they arrive on will attack players as well.

As for the Flayers themselves, again, coordination is key. Each player needs to be aware of what kind of damage each Flayer is weak to. Orange represents Solar; blue represents Arc; Purple represents Void. The color of the shield lets players know to use that form of damage. Between all the players, there should at least be one weapon for each kind of shield type.

Players need to focus on fighting one Flayer at a time. Have one person with the correct weapon type wittle down the Flayer's shield, then make sure that at least two people are trying to take it down at all times, so as to ensure it doesn't get away and get its shield back.

After the first Flayer is downed, the two remaining Flayers will back up towards the farther end of the landing pad. Players should excercise caution here, as the dropships and Cabal reinforcements may prove deadly. The same tactics used on the first Flayer should work for the last two Flayers though, stay safe and keep attack the Flayers until the last two join the first.